Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title VII Chapter 39
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 39, § 4 (2026)

Mayor to sign every ordinance; veto power; effect

✓ text as last checked Sept. 2026 (this copy records no edition or section history)
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 4. Every ordinance, order, resolution or vote requiring the concurrence of the board of aldermen and of the common council, except the question of a convention of the two branches or of the election of an officer, shall be presented to the mayor. If he approves it, he shall sign it; if he disapproves it, he shall return it, with his written objections, to the branch wherein it originated, which shall enter such objections at large on its records and again consider it; and if two thirds of the members present and voting pass it, notwithstanding such objections, it shall, if not originally requiring concurrent action, be in force; but if originally requiring concurrent action, it shall be sent, with the objections of the mayor, to the other branch, where it shall be again considered, and if passed by two thirds of the members present and voting, it shall be in force; but in all cases the vote shall be by yeas and nays. Such ordinance, order, resolution or vote shall be in force if not returned by the mayor within ten days after it has been presented to him. This section shall not apply to budgets submitted under section thirty-two of chapter forty-four, or to appropriations by a city council under section thirty-three of said chapter.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2 cases, 1962–1982 · leading case: Doherty v. Mayor of Everett, 431 N.E.2d 263 (Mass. App. Ct. 1982).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Doherty v. Mayor of Everett, 431 N.E.2d 263 (Mass. App. Ct. 1982). · cites it 2× “G. L. c. 39, § 4. It will be recalled that the common council (which consisted of eighteen members) voted to override the mayor’s veto by seventeen to one and the board of aldermen (which consisted of seven members) voted to override the veto by four to two.”
Minnie v. City of Chicopee, 184 N.E.2d 325 (Mass. 1962). “See also comparable provisions of G. L. c. 39, § 4; c. 43, §§ 55, 63; McQuillin, Municipal Corporations (3d ed.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.